There is little doubt that James Forrest will look back on 2019 fondly. Between lifting the Premiership trophy for an eighth consecutive season, winning the Scottish Cup for the third time in a row and bagging a hat-trick of individual player of the year awards for his Celtic performances in the 2018/19 campaign, the first half of the year was certainly productive.

And while the Scotland internationalist got off to a blistering start to the season and is, in general, enjoying another excellent campaign at Parkhead, it is perhaps time that the Celtic stalwart was given a run of games out of the team in order to recharge his batteries for the title run-in.

The winter break will, of course, help in this regard but there is no getting away from the fact that the 28-year-old’s form was starting to dip before the Premiership’s hiatus.

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This was perhaps most evident during the Old Firm derby in Glasgow’s east end in Celtic’s last outing, where Forrest was anonymous for all 70 minutes he was on the pitch before he was hooked off by Neil Lennon.

Very few of the Celtic players who lost to their rivals that day got pass marks so Forrest’s poor showing that day perhaps deserves a degree of mitigation. 

And while there is no question that Forrest’s overall contribution in terms of goals and assists has been phenomenal this season – the winger has 13 goals and 14 assists in all competitions for Celtic – even these began to dry up last month.

Until the end of November, Forrest was averaging over one goal or assist in each league appearance for the Scottish champions. 

Since the start of December, that figure has been halved. In the 13 matches leading up to December, Forrest found the net on seven occasions in the league. Since, he has scored just once.

Forrest’s change in position is surely a factor at play here, given that he often lined up on the left-wing in order to accommodate Ryan Christie on the right due to Mohammed Elyounoussi’s absence through injury. When the Swiss winger returns to the first team and Forrest is deployed on his favoured right flank, there is every chance that the winger will rediscover his mojo.

The sheer number of games that Forrest has played since the season began is exhaustive just to look at. 

Since the summer, he has been in action for club and country on 38 occasions and expecting him to maintain his incredible output is perhaps unreasonable. 

Forrest needs a rest and Celtic have just the man to offer him some respite – even if he has barely featured for Lennon since moving to Glasgow’s east end in the summer.

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Maryan Shved’s signing this time last year was a bit unusual, not least because then manager Brendan Rodgers appeared to know little about the deal to sign him from Karpaty Lviv. 

He was sent back to Ukraine on loan to see out the remainder of the campaign in his homeland before joining up with the Celtic squad permanently this summer but Shved has found game time hard to come by.

The inside-forward has accrued just two substitute appearances – clocking in at a grand total of 43 minutes – so far this season and with Forrest beginning to flag, perhaps we will see more of him as the season progresses. 

There is a feeling amongst sections of the Celtic support that the 22-year-old has not been given a fair crack of the whip at Parkhead and there remains a sense of intrigue about what he can offer Lennon’s side.

Lest we forget, Shved was capped for Ukraine twice last year – most recently in a 1-0 friendly win over Estonia in November – and was signed for a reported seven-figure sum. He finished last season as the third-top scorer in the Ukrainian top flight, despite not playing as a striker and for a club that were only two places above last place in the Ukrainian Premier League. 

On paper, at least, Shved has something to offer. And in one of his rare appearances in a Celtic top, against Nomme Kalju in the Champions League qualifiers, he scored an excellent goal to seal the away win.

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Given the longevity of Forrest’s Celtic career and his (largely) brilliant form over the last 18 months or so, he will be Lennon’s first choice on the right wing. 

And rightly so. But when he goes through a blip, as all players inevitably do, Celtic require an understudy who can fill in for a few games or offer some semblance of competition for the position. 

They already have such a player on the books at Parkhead. 

Maybe it’s about time Shved was given an opportunity to show why he was such a highly-rated prospect in Ukraine.